Book of Job (Bible)

In the The Book of Job, symbols like giving a horse its strength and lifting a whale refer to God's almighty power and Job's insignificance, almost all of which God uses when talking to Job through the whirl-wind. The wife only has one line "Why do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God, and die!" (? 271), but in JB plays she plays a major role. As similar as these two stories seem, Book of Job focuses more on man staying faithful when suffering, while JB, through differences in narrative elements like characters, plot, setting, and symbols, focuses more on man turning to loved ones to survive suffering. Maybe he does this because the book was written right after WWII, a time when world saw too much suffering like the holocaust and Hiroshima, giving the author, who was participant in the both WWI and WWII, a clear view of what suffering feels like and how it makes us think. The events in JB, for example, take place in modern times, while in The Book of Job they happened a long time ago. This difference helps change the story and specific details of suffering. Unlike Job's weak relation with his wife, JB has a stronger and closer relationship with Sarah; this makes love a major part of the JB's theme. Zuss, who plays the role of God in JB, differs from God in The Book of Job by thinking and interpreting what He does, helping further emphasize the theme. JB, for example, is much closer to his family than Job, making love and the suffering he experiences when his children die an important part of JB's theme. Also, Macleish wrote JB after WWII, helping further emphasize the suffering by referring to specific scenes in the war, such as Dresden and Hiroshima. Similarly, symbols such as Nickles's song, "If God is God He is not good, if God is good he is not God" (MacLeish 11) stress the idea that ordinary men would conceive in JB's situation. JB's views of God and life are also described in more depth than Job's, letting the reader identify the character better....